Delicious Mock Lemon Meringue Cake Recipe for Fall | WW Modifications Included

[SpiritdancerIA]

Yep, I made the new recipe for fall last night (I brought the recipe cards home from NC). The recipe is scheduled to be up on CC on July 20th, IIRC.

First off, if you like lemon, this will knock your socks off! Very yummy!

Secondly, I want to be up front: I'm on Weight Watchers, and my first thought on seeing the recipe was "Looks great, but I can't eat it " I made some ingredient modifications, and dropped the points per serving from approx. 8 down to 6. (yes, I ran it thru WW Recipe Builder both ways).

Ingredients (with modifications I made after each line):
5 lemons
1 box yellow cake mix (I used a "less sugar" mix made with Splenda)
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
powdered sugar
lemon instant pudding mix (I used a sugar-free/fat-free mix)
Frozen whipped topping (I used a "free" version)
4 oz cream cheese (I used fat-free)

My notes on how it went together:

1) The batter was VERY thick - I actually added a tablespoon or so of lemon juice to thin it out a bit. It didn't really pour out into the pan, and I used a Small Spreader to distribute it evenly.

2) You definitely want to use a parchment paper disc with this one - the cake was pretty sticky, and I had to coax it from the pan. Watch the cooling times!

3) Oh, when you put that parchment disc in the pan? Spritz the top of the parchment, too. I had trouble getting the parchment off the cake at the point you are instructed to.

4) Moving the cake from the cooking rack to the platter was tricky; I'm still thinking on how to make it easier (the cake stuck a bit to the cooking rack, so didn't slide easily).

5) When mixing the filling, have the thawed frozen whipped topping ready to add, as it's harder to mix in the pudding once the pudding starts to set up.

6) When making the topping, again, make sure the frozen whipped topping is thawed :blushing: You want to be really gentle folding in the whipped topping, so the end result looks like meringue. If you beat it in, instead of folding it, the end result won't stand up as nicely. It still tastes good, tho' :chef:


All in all, this recipe would work nicely for an interactive show - probably better than if you were doing a solo demo. I drafted my Mom for a couple of steps. And as I noted before, it tastes really, really good. And the serving size - 1/16th of the finished cake - is pretty darn filling.

Oh, and my Mom insisted on taking a copy of the recipe home with her!

 

[BlessedWifeMommy]

What pan do you use?

 

[SpiritdancerIA]

The Torte Pan - you put the filling in the well of the cake, and the "meringue" goes over the top.

 

[Summer0919]

I'm going to make this for my hubby who loves lemon meringue. Sounds like a great recipe. Thanks for posting!

 

[aksusan]

this does sound good. thanks! curious if you used ff sour cream too? I do WW too and use it in baking all the time.

 

[DebbieJ]

It uses WAY too many bowls for me. I will probably never make it. I hate dirty dishes more than anything.

 

[flemings99]

I made it by the recipe. I purchased the jiffy cake mix b/c it was the correct oz size. Way to much lemon for me personally. I have a lemon bar recipe I love but this one was a little over the top on the lemon.

It used lots of products to make it, but I'm with Debbie---I had lots to clean up after it was all said and done.

ALSO made the potato soup---YUMMY!

 

[IAmChefJ]

It seems like this recipe takes forever. The cake has to cool completely, right? So baking and cooling time, you'd HAVE to do the cake in advance, which eliminates showing a bunch of products.

Can't figure out how this would be a good show recipe.

 

[straitfan]

I made it by the recipe. I purchased the jiffy cake mix b/c it was the correct oz size.

Hope everyone catches that's it's the JIFFY cake mix--I made the mistake of using a full size mix when the mini lemon cakes came out and the batter was SOOOOOOOO thick and dense (kinda like I felt when I realized the error). I guess you could always use the full size mix and make 2--then freeze one layer for later.

 

[babywings76]

lol Thanks for the heads up...that's totally something I would do, too!

 

[SpiritdancerIA]

It seems like this recipe takes forever. The cake has to cool completely, right? So baking and cooling time, you'd HAVE to do the cake in advance, which eliminates showing a bunch of products.

Can't figure out how this would be a good show recipe.

The cake cooled down pretty quickly - it wasn't a problem to glaze it after the 3 min cool-down/take out of pan/10 more minutes of cooling. Meanwhile, I made the glaze, the filling, and got about halfway thru making the topping. I was pleasantly surprised how quick it came together for doing it the first time. Longest step was zesting all the lemons

 

[SpiritdancerIA]

this does sound good. thanks! curious if you used ff sour cream too? I do WW too and use it in baking all the time.

This time, I used the regular sour cream. I'm not sure that the cake will turn out right - it probably needs the fat.

That being said, I'm going to try the cake (base portion) with the FF sour cream sometime to see if it will work. Unless someone else beats me to it

Figuring the points was kinda interesting. Take the nutritional info from the recipe, plug it in, and get one number, then plug everything into the recipe builder, and get a second (higher) number.

Looking at other comments, I missed the cake mix size (I didn't have the recipe card with me, and got a regular sized yellow cake mix, not the Jiffy mix). That is probably a portion of the difference between the two calculations (the cake mix is a pretty large portion of the total points in the recipe).

 

[MikesGirl]

I made it last night. I only have the OLD torte pans and this may have been a difference. I had to cook the cake about 10 minutes (double) the instruction time. That seemed weird to me because I make all of the other PC recipes in this same pan and no problems. You need to be sure the cake is FIRM. Otherwise it's a gooey uncooked mess (that was my first go-round). It made a HUGE mess in the oven with it's overflow!
With a bit of coaxing too (make sure you loosen all overflow on the pan) the cake came out of the pan. Since I'd already read Melissa's comments I used parchment paper on the cooling rack so it didn't stick and the tranfer to the platter was a breeze.
We haven't eaten it yet (still need to top with "meringue") because I made it for my FIL's BDay. He LOVES lemon and I know it'll be a hit. The filling is YUMMY (I snuck a taste)!
I wouldn't do this at a show because of the mess in the oven although I could use a sheet pan under it. I agree with Melissa, this is best interactive....lots of little steps that could have you spending a ton of time on the recipe. It would add up to a LONG show if you're doing it alone.
That's my "ten cents" about the recipe.

 

[raebates]

I'm thinking that this will be great to take to upcoming carry-ins. Of course, I'll need to make a few practice ones first. LOL!

 

[wadesgirl]

Yes make sure to use a jiffy cake mix (it's a smaller size). Your batter may have been too thick if you used a regular size cake mix. Several people that I know had problems with this for the mini lemon cakes.

 

[robbiesmom123]

So with the Jiffy cake mix, you only make one torte pan? If so, could you use a regular mix and make two? (if this was already asked, sorry). I'd love to make this, and I need a large quantity, so double would be perfect.

 

[wadesgirl]

So with the Jiffy cake mix, you only make one torte pan? If so, could you use a regular mix and make two? (if this was already asked, sorry). I'd love to make this, and I need a large quantity, so double would be perfect.

Check the ounces, as long as it's 18 oz you should be fine with it.

 

[pampchefsarah]

I don't have a torte pan yet, but would love to bring this into the office (to try to get bookings or sales, of course). Would this be at all possible with a Deep Dish Baker, fully lined with parchment?

Also, Barb, would the potato soup be good for a lunch in August, or it more of a chilly weather recipe?

 

[pckellyd]

I'm thinking if we used the regular size cake mix and made 2, we could freeze them. It may make it easier to use this at a party. Since it needs to be totally cool it'd be much easier to make the cake in advance and bring it with you to the party.

 

[erin.tpc]

Did someone mention the new recipes would be posted on the 20th...or did I imagine it? Ha! I am curious to know the actual steps to this recipe.

 

[aksusan]

Did someone mention the new recipes would be posted on the 20th...or did I imagine it? Ha! I am curious to know the actual steps to this recipe.

I'm with you on that. I was looking for them and can't seem to find them.

 

[mpkegley]

I think they are supposed to be posted on the 30th.

 

[chefcharity]

So, here is an idea on getting the cake from the cooling rack to the platter. It uses one more cooling rack though (dirty dishes :-( ) When you filp the cake out on the cooling rack it is right side up, wonder if we could flip it over again on another cooling rack, making it upside down then flip back over onto the platter. I might be making this more complicated than it needs to be. But i always have a hard time transferring a cake to the platter too. Just a thought....

 

[Ginger428]

I have made this twice & making it for tomorrows show also. I take it out of the oven onto the cooling rack, then flip it right onto a plate & finish it of.

 

[raebates]

I'm planning to make it for a family reunion on Sunday. I always use the double cooling rack method for transferring cakes.

 

[nene960]

I was making this yesterday for my show and i didn't notice the cake mix size and used a pilsbury cake mix and needless to say it was a flop. It was also very time consuming. It took 20 minutes just to zest and juice the lemons. I am going to try it again though. I am sure it is very good (if you make it right)!!!

 

[Lisa/ChefBear]

I don't dirty 2 racks, I do what I saw my momma do all my life...........after your cake is cool on the rack, your pan should also be cool.....or cool enough to put in for few seconds it takes to flip. Just cover back with "dirty" pan and you know it fits perfect and then put platter or plate on top of cake pan and flip, and then you don't have another dirty rack.

HTH,

Lisa

 

[chefcharity]

I don't dirty 2 racks, I do what I saw my momma do all my life...........after your cake is cool on the rack, your pan should also be cool.....or cool enough to put in for few seconds it takes to flip. Just cover back with "dirty" pan and you know it fits perfect and then put platter or plate on top of cake pan and flip, and then you don't have another dirty rack.

HTH,

Lisa

LOVE IT!! Thanks!

 

[cewcooks]

What if your store does not carry Jiffy Cake mix, my stores carry Jiffy corn bread mix. What could I do if I use regular lemon cake mix??

 

[chefann]

The lemon cake mix would end up too lemony if you did the recipe as written with it. You'd also have to use only half of the mix.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

What if your store does not carry Jiffy Cake mix, my stores carry Jiffy corn bread mix. What could I do if I use regular lemon cake mix??

Double the recipe!

 

[chefcharity]

Just bought ingredients to try this cake as a GLUTEN FREE option. A dear friend of mine cannot have gluten and we are doing a show next week. I'll let you know how it turns out. Going to experiment tonight or tomorrow.

 

[pamperedlinda]

I made this for our Cluster Meeting last night. I thought it was very good, and surprisingly light.

I would not make this as a demo at a show though. It uses way to many bowls (as Deb said) and other than zesting and juicing the lemons, every other step is pretty much whisking. I would absolutely make this again for dessert though or to take somewhere for pot luck.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I made this for our Cluster Meeting last night. I thought it was very good, and surprisingly light.

I would not make this as a demo at a show though. It uses way to many bowls (as Deb said) and other than zesting and juicing the lemons, every other step is pretty much whisking. I would absolutely make this again for dessert though or to take somewhere for pot luck.

I wouldn't make it for a show either - but I would definitely make it as dessert! I had it at our meeting last night - and it is soooo good. We were trying many recipes, so I only took a sliver, and then wished that I'd had a big piece!

 

[chefcharity]

I did make this at a show last Thursday and did it with the gluten free option. I zested 1 lemon and made the cake before they got there. So, I was pulling it out of the oven to cool as everyone walked in. Then had different areas set up (at the demo table) for them to whisk and fold and zest. I used the mandoline to slice a lemon for garnish. Just slice the lemon, make a slit through one side of the disk and twist to make a pretty lemon garnish.

I just figured it up and I showed almost $500 worth of products just doing this recipe. That doesn't inlcude talking about cookware and stoneware.

The demo flowed well with having the cake pre-baked and it was a $700 show.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

made this for the first time last night for my Southern Living At Home party. It was delicious. I had the last slice for breakfast this morning...... (would have been better without the almond joy coffee) 13 women devoured itIt was as good if not better than the lemon cake my husband always buys me for my birthday from this fancy bakery he goes to.

 

[poohritz]

I made this for a potluck. Everyone said it was really good. i enjoyed it. But so many bowls and so many dishes to clean up. Also seems like you could get by with 3 or 4 lemons or buy 1 lemon for decoration and 1 for zesting and use real lemon instead of the 5 recomended.

 

[kam]

I made this for a potluck. Everyone said it was really good. i enjoyed it. But so many bowls and so many dishes to clean up. Also seems like you could get by with 3 or 4 lemons or buy 1 lemon for decoration and 1 for zesting and use real lemon instead of the 5 recomended.

I agree! I made this last week and I thought the same thing. It seemed like there was tons to clean up! I told DH he better enjoy it since I wasn't making it again (or he had to do the dishes!).

And, I do not believe I used all the lemons and I had zest and juice left over. I think it might depend on how much juice you can get out of your lemon!

 

[kam]

I made this for a potluck. Everyone said it was really good. i enjoyed it. But so many bowls and so many dishes to clean up. Also seems like you could get by with 3 or 4 lemons or buy 1 lemon for decoration and 1 for zesting and use real lemon instead of the 5 recomended.

I agree! I made this last week and I thought the same thing. It seemed like there was tons to clean up! I told DH he better enjoy it since I wasn't making it again (or he had to do the dishes!).

And, I do not believe I used all the lemons and I had zest and juice left over. I think it might depend on how much juice you can get out of your lemon!

BUT - it was DELISH! DH is asking for it again already.

 

[byrd1956]

Thanks for everyone's comments! I lam cutting and pasting them to a word doc to re-read later.